I've encountered similar situations before. Your professor can't drop you from the class, or penalize your grade, for an excused absence. Speak with someone higher up, such as the Dean. Professors can't rewrite the rules.

Your professor will care when you bring it to the dean's attention that a professor is going against him/her. The professor has the right to do what they want especially if it's stated in the syllabus but if you have permission from the dean...dean trumps professor.

If you've been excused by the dean the professor can't kick you out of the course. The dean out-ranks your professor.

professors are starting to be as annoying as cops. thank god they dont get free coffee, donuts, or value meals 3 times per day for free too.

So why were you absent the other times?

Your professor won't drop you for only one absence which means you've been missing multiple classes. Now if you've been missing all those days because of field experience with the deans permission then the teacher can't drop you but otherwise you're probably screwed. Most professors, at least at my college if they bother taking attendance will only allow you to miss up to 20% of classes whether it's excused or unexcused.

All your "Dean trumps Prof" stuff is cute but idealistic. In this case, the Dean probably issued a general pass from class for ALL students who undergo a field experience day and didn't consider specific students (assuming the Dean was involved at all, and the permission wasn't something done by assistants in the Dean's office... something that happens all too often). In virtually every case I have seen (and I work at a university), if the professor has documentation that the student has been missing class and has not completed a sufficient portion of the course, the Dean will side with the professor if the student complains. Bottom line is that most Deans will rarely (if ever) give a special pass to a student without discussing the situation with the professor of the course in question.

College is not a game of rock, paper scissors, where "dean cuts professor" and therefore wins. The professor and dean may work in the same small community for ten or twenty years; they both have PhDs and may even have research interests in common. You won't be seen as an equal party. The excused absence for fieldwork would likely be seen as irrelevant in light of your other attendance problems. If the other missed classes were also for fieldwork, a dean may also suggest that you should have changed your class schedule, rather than force a professor to change her standards. The syllabus you're given at the beginning of the term is like a contract. If you don't feel like you're going to be able to uphold your end of the contract, especially if you're doing field research that will conflict with the class, you need to talk to the professor before the drop deadline, explain the situation, and ask if you'll be able to stay in the class anyway. If the professor says no, then you need to find another class. YDI. If you've missed too many classes early in the term, the professor is actually doing you a favor by removing you from the class now vs. failing you later. Perhaps you can petition to have the overflow portion of your fieldwork count as an independent study or more units if you're worried about keeping full-time enrollment. Why not focus on that instead? It's a positive that you're doing research on your own! Do you really want to force yourself back into a class where the professor has noticed your absences enough to single you out?

Is this professor a teacher at University of Iowa? I go there, and this sounds similar to a bitch here, whom 95% of studetns can't stand cuz she acts like thqt. We empathize with u!

Excuse my spelling . . .hard to type lying down

I say YDI because you've clearly missed a lot of classes before your little field trip

dean < professor